title: Absence of an SOS-like system in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.
abstract: The DNA repair capacities of Neisseria gonorrhoeae have not been well characterised, however, it is known that the gonococcus possesses an excision repair system. The fact that genes in this system are part of the SOS regulon in Escherichia coli prompted this investigation into the transcriptional regulation of genes involved in DNA repair in N. gonorrhoeae. Northern (RNA-DNA) dot blot hybridisation was used to investigate potential DNA damage-mediated induction of the gonococcal recA, uvrA and uvrB genes. In contrast to the situation in E. coli, transcription of these genes in N. gonorrhoeae was not induced in response to treatment with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and UV light. These data indicated that the gonococcus does not possess an SOS-like system that is induced in response to DNA damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Monash University, Wellington Rd., Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. Casilda.Black@med.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fyfe
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Davies
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D004249:DNA Damage; D004265:DNA Helicases; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate / Q000494:pharmacology; D009344:Neisseria gonorrhoeae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000528:radiation effects; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics*; D013014:SOS Response, Genetics / Q000235:genetics*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C058093:UvrB protein, E coli; D008741:Methyl Methanesulfonate; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; C068631:UvrA protein, E coli; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D004265:DNA Helicases